1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a feed device for installation in a fuel tank having a baffle for collecting fuel, a feed unit for feeding fuel out of the baffle, and a filling-level sensor having a lever arm carrying a float pivotally arranged in a mounting on a carrier arranged on the baffle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Feed devices having baffles in which feed units and filling level sensors are arranged are often used in fuel tanks of present-day motor vehicles. The feed units are supported on the bottom of the fuel tank and are designed as a structural unit together with the baffle. The baffle has a guide with a plurality of orifices arranged at different heights. A carrier is arranged in the guide and has a lug for interlocking with one of the orifices. Accordingly, the carrier is connectable to the baffle at different heights thereby allowing standardized components of the feed device to be used in differently constructed fuel tanks which require different pivoting ranges of the float. The pivoting ranges of the float depend on the height of the fuel tank and on the intended installation position of the baffle or feed unit in the fuel tank.
The baffle is of double-walled design in the region of the guide and the orifices are arranged transversely to the longest extent of the guide. The baffle is consequently highly cost-intensive to manufacture. Furthermore, the baffle requires a high and therefore cost-intensive use of material, since the guide has to extend on the baffle over a region far exceeding the length of the carrier.
An object of the present invention is to provide a feed unit for installation in a fuel tank of a motor vehicle that it is suitable for use in a number of different fuel tanks of various configurations and can be produced particularly cost-effectively.
The object is met, according to the present invention, by a feed unit with a filling level sensor having a lever arm including a lever wire holding a float, the level wire being mountable in different orientations by a yoke of the lever arm which forms part of the mounting to set an intended pivoting range of the float.
As a result of this design, the orientation of the lever arm mounted on the carrier and the position of the float may be varied by an appropriate orientation of the carrier. The feed device according to the invention is therefore suitable for use in many different fuel tanks having a variety of configurations. The present invention obviates that need for very long and therefore cost-intensive guides. The feed device according to the invention can therefore be manufactured particularly cost-effectively. Moreover, the feed device according to the present invention requires only a very small amount of construction space because the carrier may be fastened on the feed unit or on the baffle at a position that is determined irrespective of the fuel tank design.
A further simplification of the mounting of the feed device according to the present invention is made by providing latching connections for holding the lever wire on the yoke. These latching connections are arranged on a plurality of legs of the yoke which point away from the region of the mounting.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the pivoting range of the lever arm is limited cost-effectively when the carrier has two stops for limiting the pivoting range of the yoke.
Alternatively, the carrier may have stops for limiting the pivoting range of the lever wire. In this embodiment the pivoting range of the float in the fuel tank will be varied in a simple way by changing the fastening of the lever wire to the lever.
The feed device according to the present invention is mountable in a particularly large number of different fuel tanks when the carrier is capable of being mounted in at least two different orientations at an intended position on the feed unit or on the baffle. In conjunction with the lever arm design according to the present invention, the capability of mounting the carrier in different orientations allows a multiplication of the possibilities for setting the pivoting range of the float.
The position of the lever arm may, for example, be detected via a magnetically active position sensor in which a magnetic network arranged on the carrier detects the position of a magnet arranged on the lever arm and converts it into electrical signals. In a further embodiment, the position of the lever arm is detected by a position sensor designed as a potentiometer. Detrimental influences on the functioning of the potentiometer may be avoided in a simple way when the carrier is arranged on the inside of the baffle. This embodiment, ensures that the resistance slide track is covered with fuel at all times during operation. Moreover, the filling-lever sensor operates with a high degree of accuracy as a result.
According to yet a further embodiment of the present invention, the baffle or the feed unit can be designed particularly cost-effectively as cylindrical components when the carrier has vertical strips arranged for connecting the carrier to the baffle or to the feed unit.
The feed device according to the present invention is of particularly simple design when the carrier has a first carrier part connected to the baffle or to the feed unit and a second carrier part on which the lever arm is mounted. The carrier parts are positively connected to one another and may also be constructed in a particularly simple way.
The first carrier part could, for example, be fastened in different orientations to the baffle or to the feed unit. However, a contribution to further simplifying the construction of the feed unit according to the invention is made when the second carrier part is capable of being mounted in at least two different orientations on the first carrier part.
The feed device according to the invention is of particularly simple design when a position sensor converting the position of the lever arm into electrical signals is arranged on the second carrier part.
The mounting of the feed device according to the present invention is particularly simple when the carrier parts are connected to one another via a latching connection.
A further simplification of the manufacture of the components of the feed device according to the present invention is made when the second carrier part has lugs facing the first carrier part and when latching means of the first carrier part are provided for engaging behind the lugs and prestressing the second carrier part against a stop. As a result, the carrier parts can in each case be manufactured cost-effectively in an axial-removal injection mold. Undercuts requiring the use of cores in the injection mold are avoided by this design.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the yoke is guided with particular accuracy when the carrier possesses tracks which are arranged on mutually opposing regions of the mounting and on which the yoke is supported or guided. Accordingly, as the yoke pivots about the mounting, the radially outer regions of the yoke are guided in the tracks arranged on opposing sides of the mounting. This contributes to increasing the accuracy of the signals from the position sensor.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the invention, for which reference should be made to the appended claims. It should be further understood that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and that, unless otherwise indicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and procedures described herein.